You Fill My Empty Heart
by fancifulpants
Summary: (MV) In a world where people turn their backs on heroes, Mary Jane, questioning her decision to leave her life behind for Peter, needs a hero, and Spiderman needs love and stability in his life. Can Mary Jane and Peter fill the void in each other?
1. Mary Jane: humble beginnings

Summary: Mary Jane loves Peter, but is unsure of her decision to give up her life to wait for him. Despite their strong bonds, Mary Jane can't help but wonder "what if." As turmoil begins to build in the world around them with Harry's worsening alchoholism and more villains on the loose, will Peter and MJ be all each other has? In a world where people turn their backs on their heroes, Mary Jane needs a hero, and Spiderman needs someone to care about him as much as he cares about the safety of his home, NYC. Can Mary Jane and Peter fill the emptiness in each other?

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Author's Note: 

I got a (VERY helpful) comment that I didn't have my geography straight. I am proud to state that I think my geography is good now, but if I'm wrong, I think I went to the wrong state a year ago, and I will promptly make any corrections that need to be made. Thanks for the reviews and encouragement.

-Leha

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Mary Jane walked down each aisle of a Costco in Clifton, New Jersey, scanning the shelves for low priced merchandise to put in her new, smaller apartment. She had she had taken a short ferry ride to Hoboken, NJ to visit her aging aunt, took a train to Elizabeth for a day where she spent the day at Ikea buying inexpensive modern furniture that didn't look like trailer park trash, and had gone back to catch the ferry back, taking a short stop at the local Costco. Since she had left John Jameson to be with Peter, her finances had become very troublesome, and almost unmanageable. 

John had once helped her with her rent on her old apartment, but after the bitter break up that ended with John alone on their marriage alter, she would have been surprised if he would have help carried her groceries to her car. Selecting a 13" color television with built in DVD player for 150, a blender, a few pots and pans, and a small microwave, Mary Jane made her way to the check out counter, grabbing a few packs of Orbit Gum and a copy of US weekly. Spying a sales bin near the register, Mary Jane dug threw a few of the items and found a copy of "The Importance of Being Earnest" on DVD for 7. Of course, this would be the first video she watched on her new DVD player.

She approached the cashier and paid for her purchases, totaling almost 300 dollars. The frazzled bag checker gave her an exasperated look as he tried to load the large purchases into brown paper bags, but gave up eventually and had another bag checker help him haul her purchases to the awaiting taxi. Mary Jane was promptly dropped off at the entrance to the ferry, where she paid, generously tipping the driver for his promptness.

She hauled her few heavy purchases with her out of the bus and on to the ferry for the long ride back into New York. Mary Jane rested her purchases on a seat in the middle floor, watching the sea gently rock the boat back and forth in the calm evening waters. Feeling a bit spontaneous, Mary Jane grabbed her bags and ascended the stairs to the top of the ferry. She sauntered over to an empty bench, putting her bags down and feeling the gentle oceanic breeze mist her face, it's salty residue subtly clinging to her loose waves. She inhaled the salty sea air and slowly let the air out of her lungs.

Mary Jane had always enjoyed the ferry, and even more, she had always enjoyed the water. The water around New York, sadly, was rarely pretty, and often more grimy and fearfully deep. However, across the shores in New Jersey, the beaches in Redbank, NJ where her aunt lived were a pleasant retreat in the summer heat.

Now, however, it was fall, and many things were different. Peter, the boy whom she had loved since High School, was in College, and holding down two jobs. One was as Spiderman's official photographer for the Daily Bugle, the other as Spiderman himself, town-saving wall-crawler of the beautiful New York City. His job had always gotten in the way of things before now, but when Mary Jane realized Peter's alter ego, things had changed. Everything fit; the unusual phone calls, his inability to be on time, the lost jobs, being late to class, it all made sense. And in some ways, it was a relief, and an exciting thing realizing who Peter was. The two men she loved most, Spiderman and Peter Parker, were really one in the same. She no longer felt overlooked or unwanted because of Peter's inability to be there for her. Instead, she was ready to accept as much or as little of Peter as he was ready to give her.

She sucked on her somewhat chapped lower lip briefly as the salt hit it, absorbing the water and drying her lips again. The salty and sweet taste of the sea mixed with her strawberry lip balm reminded her of Peter, and the kiss he gave her one sunny fall afternoon.

Racing away from the chapel at which she was to be married, Mary Jane arrived in the doorway of Peter's apartment, exposed and unprotected from rejection or failure. She poured out her soul to him, and for the first time, he reciprocated. Rather than explaining what he felt for Mary Jane in words too complex for the human tongue, Peter leaned forward, and touched her lips with his. The kiss continued, their lips moving passionately against each other. It was dignified, breathless, and beautiful. It seemed to say everything that they could not express in words. Suddenly, Spiderman was called into the line of duty by the sound of police sirens.

"Go get 'em, tiger." Mary Jane responded, gently touching his face. He nodded and leapt from the window in his costume, off to save the world once again. When he had left, Mary Jane had felt relieved, but worried for tomorrow, and for the life of her true love. She needed him as much as he needed her, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

As the boat approached the brightly lit docks of glistening New York City, Mary Jane saw a red and blue blur flash when it passed under a tall light post.

"Peter," she heard herself say in a soft whisper. He was her dearest love, and her greatest hero. She slowly descended the stairs, heavy bags in hand., and dragged her bags across the street to catch the late bus. As it approached, Mary Jane's stomach turned into knots. She had seen Spiderman, but she had also seen Peter Parker, and quite frankly, it was Peter that worried her. She slowly walked onto the bus and set her bags down next to an aged man. Settling down in her seat, Mary Jane couldn't help but drift off to visions of Spiderman, and hardly realized it when she arrived at her stop.


	2. Deluxe apartment in the Sky

Authors Note:

I was very happy about the postiive response this story is getting so far! I have it posted on two total websites, so it's nice to get reviews from people saying they like it. If you like it OR DONT LIKE IT, please review, it's really helpful for an author to see what they are doing right, and what they are doing wrong. Thanks!

----Leha

As the bus slowed to a halt, Mary Jane fumbled with her large shopping bags and walked down the middle aisle of the bus, bumping the other passengers with her shopping bags. Finally exiting the bus with somewhat damaged bags in hand, Mary Jane slowly began to walk the short distance to her small, but well kept apartment. Though her modeling and acting paid well, she had relatively few jobs at a time, and any apartment in the center of bustling New York City would have been very expensive. She walked up to her door and clumsily searched her purse for the keys, which proved very difficult to do while holding a large array of heavy bags. Slowly but surely, she found the keys, all hooked to a pink plastic carabineer, and pushed open the door of her new home.

Putting her bags down right inside the entryway, Mary Jane locked the front door and threw her keys and purse on the kitchen counter, and collapsed on an old couch in the living room, which was divided from the kitchen only by a counter. Mary Jane briefly surveyed her living space. The apartment was a blank canvas waiting to be decorated, preferably by someone with a large paycheck. The Kitchen housed only a fridge, cabinets, a toaster, a stove and an oven: the bare bones of an kitchen; fortunately, a blender and microwave would soon be adding themselves to the list of appliances. The small dining area across from the kitchen was bare except for a folding card table and a wooden chair that had been in her bedroom next to her desk in the old apartment. The living room housed only a couch and a few framed photographs, one of herself from her "Emma Rose" advertisement, and a picture Peter had taken of Central Park in the spring, with brilliantly colored trees in greens and pale purples. Mary Jane, somehow, was reminded of the "Cement Pond" from the Beverly Hillbillies, because the trees were surrounded by concrete, but they looked beautiful and untamed. Her bedroom also lacked furnishing; the only piece of furniture in the room was an old wooden dresser, while her mattress and box spring sat on the floor, bed frameless. It was of some consolation, however, that he favorite cream colored 330 thread-count sheets adorned the bed: a wedding gift from the wedding that never was. Though she had offered to return the gifts to all those who attended the wedding, the woman who had given them the bed linens had refused to take them back, so Mary Jane kept them. Fortunately, the rest of the furniture was being shipped, and would arrive within the next 2 weeks.

Mary Jane dragged herself up off the couch and walked into the kitchen where her phone was plugged in. Looking at the machine, she saw that she had two messages, and decided to check them. The first message was from her aunt, asking if she had gotten back, and telling her that she would call back in the morning. Mary Jane simply erased the message, and moved on. However, the second message gave Mary Jane chills. It was Peter Parker's voice on the other line, whose voice she hadn't heard in days, but it seemed like much longer.

"Hi MJ, it's Peter. I was calling because I was a little bit worried because I haven't seen you in a while, and you know how much I worry about you. If you're in New Jersey right now, I guess I'll see you when you get back to the city, but if you're not there yet and you get this message, be careful while you're there, I don't know what I'd do if anything bad happened to you while I wasn't there to protect you. Don't go down any dark alleys. I miss you; call me back if you get this message. See you soon, Love you." Mary Jane listened to the tape stop rolling as a voice on her phone clearly stated, "end of messages." She smiled softly thinking about the message Peter had left her, and made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a giggle.

Peter was very sweet, even when he was being a little over protective. He had trouble believing that she could take care of herself, and it made him sick with worry when he hadn't seen her for long periods of time. It also seemed sometimes as though peter had some sort of spider sense like mechanism that alerted him when Mary Jane most needed to hear from him, because every time she needed someone, her phone had a message from Peter sitting in voicemail. She smiled and walked over to her bags, picking them up and beginning to decorate her apartment with the new buys. Her first priority was to set up the new microwave, or any meal tomorrow would be a problem. The only food she still had in the fridge was frozen, and heating frozen meals in the oven is quite a hassle. She assembled some minor parts of the microwave and put it all together, finding the perfect spot on her white countertop for the new microwave. The blender required very little set up, and was therefore placed on the counter near the microwave.

Now it was on to the DVD player. Mary Jane's very limited knowledge of technology became terribly evident when she opened the box, to find hundreds of wires and cables, corresponding with hundreds of ports on the television and cable box. A red cable had a corresponding red hole on the back. No, a red cable had 3 corresponding holes on the back. And there were 3 almost identical white holes, 2 similar blue holes, yellow holes and green holes, an at least 5 black plastic slots. After about half of an hour of unplugging and plugging in all the cables, Mary Jane collapsed on the couch with the remote. She pressed the button to turn the TV on, but nothing happened. She pressed it again, nothing. She pressed it a third time, and nothing happened. Frustrated, she tossed the remote on the couch, and the battery cover popped off, revealing that the battery port was empty. Annoyed with her foolishness, Mary Jane searched for batteries, but found none and decided to buy some tomorrow, as she was far too tired now. She dressed in her favorite pajamas, a Christmas present her mother bought from Gap, and slid into her soft bed sheets. Normally, sleep did not come easy to Mary Jane, but having slept little the night before in an unfamiliar town, Mary Jane fell quickly to sleep to dream of Spiderman.

Mary Jane was walking on the streets of New York, paying no attention to where she was going, when suddenly, she found herself on the top of the Waldorf-Astoria, having no recollection of getting there. Mary Jane was absolutely terrified, she had never liked heights, and she was suddenly trapped on top of an incredibly tall building with no apparent means of getting down. She looked over the railing and saw a balcony about a story down, maybe two, with a patio covered in feather pillows. Mary Jane jumped directly to it, but as soon as she was about to hit the balcony, it disappeared. Mary Jane was suddenly in freefall, plummeting to her death in the middle of New York City. She screamed in terror, no one was there to save. She drew closer and closer to the ground, she was only 40 yards away from it, screaming fearfully, when suddenly, she wasn't falling. She was suspended in the air, attached to a silver string from what looked like a giant Spider web. She looked above her, and there was Spiderman. He pulled his web back in, and wrapped her up in his arms as he swung with her through the city. Spiderman turned to her, his mask had disappeared, and it was Peter. He looked deeply into her eyes, their lips only inches apart, and said:

"Goooood Morning New York City! This is Johnny J. in the morning and you're listening to 97.9 KHPR, it's 7:00." Mary Jane groaned, another good dream ruined by modern conveniences. She rolled sleepily out of bed, brushing her teeth and climbing into the small shower. She washed her long red hair, combed and toweled it off, letting it dry in loose waves. She slipped on a white tank top, brown and pink floral satin skirt, and a pink cardigan with white ballet flats and rushed into the kitchen, pushing a frozen toaster pastry into the toaster.

She impatiently waited for the strawberry pastry to pop up, going outside to catch a breath of fresh and bring in the morning paper. However, a quick look at the headlines and Mary Jane felt a twinge of sorrow. "Masked Menace Wanted for Robbery: Spidey Aids Bank Robbers in Major Heist." Mary Jane had seen the headlines nearly every morning for years, and laughed it off. Everyone knew Spider-man wasn't a menace. But now that she knew that Spider-man was really Peter Parker, she felt hurt that people would say such things about Peter. If they only knew whom Spiderman really was, just a kid trying to do the right thing.

The pastry popped up and Mary Jane sauntered over to the toaster to grab her breakfast. She ate it quickly, grabbed her purse, and walked out the door, locking it behind her. But while she turned the key, she was grateful that there were people like Peter in the world who tried to make sure you didn't have to be afraid to leave your house. 


	3. Walking Into Spider Webs

A/N: Sorry the update took so long: My Computer froze and died and I had to get my hard drive replaced with a ¾ completed story on it already. This is my rewrite of the story, it's not as long because well, I couldn't really remember the details of what I had been writing, but a new chapter will follow this one immediately.

I would like to briefly thank all of you who reviewed my story, whether good or not; it really helps. If anyone would like to be my beta, email me/review or whatever. I think I could use one.

And now to Our Feature Presentation.

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Mary Jane walked down the steps of her apartment as a cold gust of wind swept up her skirt, causing it to fly up and fan out around her legs. She quickly pushed her skirt down, blushing brilliantly, and took a look up and down the street to make sure no one had seen. An middle aged man with a seedy mustache whistled in her direction and she blushed more brightly, walking at quicker pace while holding her skirt down.

Mary Jane soon wished that she had opted for a heavier coat, as there was a definite chill in the air as she walked down the street the 3 blocks to the convenience store and to rehearsal. She enjoyed the chilly New York air most days, but her hair was still damp, her skirt was a bit short and her sweater was very light, which made the cold more unbearable.

She looked up and down the street, glancing at the different unusual buildings that she passed. Dating a photographer had made her see something special in everything, even if she'd seen it many times before. Even a bike propped up against a tree had potential.

Speeding down the street, a yellow cab zipped through a puddle, splashing Mary Jane with a stream of dirty, oily water. Already shivering slightly, this made the chill a genuine, penetrating cold.

"Watch where you're going, jerk!" She yelled after the cab, but it had already passed. Mary Jane generally disliked cabs, and preferred to walk or take the Bus. These options were also far cheaper, and nice exercise on days when working out was difficult or impossible.

After about 15 minutes, Mary Jane arrived at a small Indian owned convenience store. It was always a delight to visit this store, as it was stocked with fresh coffees, pastries and other foods at different times of the day. Mary Jane walked to the back of the store, picking up a cup of Dark Roast coffee, two sugar packets and a half and half, stirring the coffee until it became a golden brown. She raised the steaming cup to her lips and took a sip of the confection, warming her from head to toe. She proceeded to the front of the store where she grabbed to sticks of Beef Jerky, a package of mixed nuts, and a small container of batteries, then found a place at the back of the short line.

She gazed out the window onto the bustling streets, cars zipped past the store while pedestrians walked briskly down the sidewalk, a few giving acknowledging smiles to their fellow New Yorkers. A young mother was trying to control two young boys while toting a large shopping bag and fixing the strap on the back of her shoe. A haggard man stood on the corner a few yards away carrying a tin can with a paper sign attached to it. Mary Jane was so consumed with people watching that she hardly noticed the customers in front of her, or how quickly they seemed to finish their purchases. Only one customer remained, and he didn't not appear to be purchasing anything so it would probably not take long. Cigarettes or lottery tickets, Mary Jane thought, briefly glancing at the customer, who approached the Asian cashier with a strange sort of smile. He began to pull something out of his jacket, perhaps a wallet. It would soon be her turn.

But when the man had opened his jacket, it became fairly obvious that he wasn't intending to buy anything. The man snatched a handgun strapped inside his jacket and waved it in the clerk's face.

"NOBODY MOVE! Give me all the money in the cash register and nobody gets hurt!" He yelled, aiming the gun at the stunned clerk's head.

"There's no money! It's early in the morning! I have no customer!" the clerk said, squirming.

"Don't give me that crap," the man said, "I know damn well that you're open all night and last night's money is still in there."

"I have no money! I'm sorry!" The clerk stated adamantly.

"YOU'RE LIEING! JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN MONEY!" The man screamed this at the clerk and blasted a hole in the frozen foods isle with a warning shot. "The next one's for you, commie."

The clerk was incredibly startled, breathing heavily. All the other customers seemed equally alarmed, frozen where they stood, silently anxious. Mothers clung desperately to their children, husbands to wives. Total strangers huddled together for the comfort of human interaction, watching the man with bated breath as he negotiated with the clerk, who was still adamant that there was no money to be had.

Mary Jane was panicked. Fearing for her life, she decided to make a desperate attempt at escape. She would call for help when she was far enough away. She was already standing very close to the door; she took a step in it's direction. Another step, and he still didn't notice. She was at the threshold, gently and slowly pushing open the glass door when a loud "Bee-oop" issued from the door, intended to alert the cashier of a customer.

"I SAID DON'T MOVE, BITCH!" the gun was now pointed at Mary Jane. He pulled back the hammer, and threw his dirty fingers onto the trigger. Mary Jane screamed and dove behind a display of Frito Lay potato chips just as a very loud shattering sound emitted from the man's general direction.

Something hit her ankle, but it didn't feel like a bullet. It was a shard of broken glass, hundreds of them. Millions of tiny shards flew to the floor, but they never heard a shot fired from the armed robber, just a tiny, squeaking sort of noise. Two women rushed to help Mary Jane to her feet, and she saw the entire scene.

The man was suspended by a gigantic spider-web, his gun on the floor mere inches from his hands! And in the midst of it all, a young man in a red and blue spandex suit stood, walking over to check that the woman who had been the intended target for the gunshots, Mary Jane, was indeed all right.

Mary Jane's eyes grew wide; though her face was very pale, her blue green iris glittered in the early morning sunlight. A soft whisper emitted from lips.

"Peter?" she whispered, the women holding her up leaned closer to try to hear her, but couldn't. Spiderman was racing towards her just as Mary Jane collapsed into the ladies arms, fainting from surprise and complete mental exhaustion.

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For those who asked, there's your first Spiderman appearance :) Okay, please please PLEASE read and review, signed or anonymous, like it or not. Thanks much!

Leha


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